Clemens Trial Makes Opening Pitch

By

Devlin Barrett

July 14, 2011

Bloody cotton balls and used syringes hidden in an old beer can will prove that former New York Yankee Roger Clemens used steroids and lied about it under oath to Congress, federal prosecutors told jurors Wednesday in a Washington courtroom.

ENLARGE

Roger Clemens leaving federal court
Associated Press

In a sign of just how hard-fought the month-long trial is expected to be, defense lawyers used their first remarks to the jury to challenge not just the DNA evidence, but the forensic analysis of the beer can in which they were hidden.

Prosecutors plan to call an expert witness to tell jurors how the design and other marks on the mangled can of Miller Lite indicate it is of the right vintage to buttress the claims of a key witness in the case. The defense argued that not only is the DNA evidence a fraud, but suggested the government's study of the beer can will also fall flat.

Mr. Clemens, known as "The Rocket'' for his blazing fastball, is considered one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history and was once a lock for the Hall of Fame. Now, he faces a possible prison sentence if convicted.

Wearing a gray suit, he sat quietly taking notes in court as the lawyers made their presentations. The trial threatens to darken not just Mr. Clemens's legacy but also the image of many players from the so-called "steroids era" before baseball officials agreed to test for performance-enhancing substances.

"In the 1990s and well into the 2000s, Major League Baseball had a serious drug problem,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Durham told the jury of 10 women and two men.

Mr. Clemens was part of that problem, the prosecutor argued. But his misdeeds became a criminal matter in 2008 when he denied under oath to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that he had used either steroids or human growth hormone, Mr. Durham said. The former pitcher has been charged with perjury, false statements and obstruction of Congress.

Mr. Clemens's lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said prosecutors "are horribly wrong in this case…There was a rush to judgment on Roger that has made it impossible for him to be fairly heard until he got here."

The defense lawyer said prosecutors were led astray by Mr. Clemens's former trainer, a key witness in the case against him. Mr. Hardin marveled at the more than 100 law-enforcement officers used to investigate Mr. Clemens—a probe which he said had generated 229 different investigative reports from 72 different locations.

But at the core of the government's case, the defense lawyer argued, was the trainer, Brian McNamee, an admitted drug dealer and liar who, Mr. Hardin insisted, is still lying about Mr. Clemens.

"Roger Clemens's only crime was having the poor judgment to stay connected with Brian McNamee," Mr. Hardin said.

The lawyer said Mr. Clemens's 24-year career is further proof that he did not use steroids, since he was an All-Star power pitcher for more than a decade before he met Mr. McNamee.

Prosecutors are counting on Mr. McNamee to provide critical and convincing testimony against the seven-time Cy Young award winner. Mr. Durham said Mr. McNamee's claims would be supported in part by physical evidence, including a stash of used needles and cotton balls hidden by Mr. McNamee for years in an empty can of beer.

Tests on the items revealed both Mr. Clemens's DNA and steroids, according to the prosecutor.

Mr. Clemens has vehemently denied McNamee ever injected him with steroids, but has said the trainer did inject him in the past with yitamin B-12 and lidocaine, an anesthetic. The prosecutor said Wednesday that neither of those substances were found on the materials

Mr. McNamee's account, prosecutors said, would also be backed up by testimony from retired Yankee Andy Pettitte, a close friend of Mr. Clemens, who has told investigators he took human growth hormone to recover from an injury, and said Mr. Clemens once admitted to taking it as well.

Prosecutors say that when Mr. Clemens was confronted with some of the evidence against him, he tried to lie his way out of trouble because he wanted to preserve his chance to go to baseball's Hall of Fame. Authorities charge Mr. Clemens lied 15 separate times under oath, both to congressional staffers and lawmakers at a nationally televised hearing.

"Nobody's on trial here for a mistake or confusion or neglect or one slip of the tongue,'' said Mr. Durham.

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